This is merely a semantic stop-sign; it appears wise because it uses modern vocabulary. The structure of the argument is identical to the structure of a neo-Platonist argument that most LW readers would instantly reject:
Before God’s Creation is beyond the universe. Beyond the universe are other Creations. Which Creations? All Creations that God created. What are God’s Creations? They are instantiations of God’s will. What is God’s will? Arbitrary manipulation of Form. And there you’ve reached a final stopping point. Because it isn’t even intelligible to ask why there is Form or why God wills one thing and not another. Form and Will are eternal, and there is nothing beyond or beneath them. More importantly, there is no form from which they derive their pattern because they are their own perfect Form.
This is merely a semantic stop-sign; it appears wise because it uses modern vocabulary. The structure of the argument is identical to the structure of a neo-Platonist argument that most LW readers would instantly reject:
Before God’s Creation is beyond the universe. Beyond the universe are other Creations. Which Creations? All Creations that God created. What are God’s Creations? They are instantiations of God’s will. What is God’s will? Arbitrary manipulation of Form. And there you’ve reached a final stopping point. Because it isn’t even intelligible to ask why there is Form or why God wills one thing and not another. Form and Will are eternal, and there is nothing beyond or beneath them. More importantly, there is no form from which they derive their pattern because they are their own perfect Form.